October 16, 2012

While it is no secret that banks aren’t lending to small businesses, I was quite shocked to find that local credit unions are equally as absent from lending. This post goes out to the very wonderful people at Group Financial and Jodi Goldfarb-Sullivan in particular whose help has been valuable in securing capital and financing for equipment. She’s also a teacher of sorts and has a love for things vintage. If you to are in the industry and need financing, I would give Group Financial a try which will be at the Next Vision Expo East.

May 29, 2012

At some point in our internet browsing, we are becoming familiar with ratings and reviews from a variety of sites like yelp, patch, Google and many others. If one has a business, one will have to confront negative reviews by vandals and others who do not care to smear one’s good name for their desire to let off steam. The worst of these offenders are anonymous posters and sites that encourage bad behavior. Many sites disclaim the content authored by its members. While I agree with this in theory, in reality it turns out to be a very different experience. This website gets all manner of comments whose links go to some magical pill that cures all ills, pornography, and advertisements. I filter these out. To a certain degree it makes the site a little more boring, but it makes it much more reliable. In other words, I monitor the site, and while I’m not responsible for what people comment I try to make sure that people stay on topic and not go overboard with their comments. This is not the case with sites like yelp and patch. While it may seem like claiming one’s online business listing is important, one must beware the cost. For example, editing one’s business information should be readily given to you (if you are the owner) as well as the ability to delete the listing. Not so with yelp and patch. These sites allow vandalism with little or no recourse for the business owner. Worse, businesses like yelp, may offer you a fee to “help” the negative reviews go away through some “proprietary” algorithm. Many claim that yelp extorts money from business owners by manipulating the reviews. If you don’t pay, the negative reviews will gain priority over positive reviews, and many positive reviews will suddenly disappear. A blogger I wish I had been able to credit put it succinctly; ”Nice business you got here…shame if something happened to it…” So where does this leave us as business owners? These sites aren’t going away just yet, but they can still leave a lot of damage. I would recommend some type of reputation building service to help with vandalism. There is some advice I got which may be of some help. It’s such a good source of information that I’m going to link to the site.

December 26, 2007

This is an important alert. You can read further details about this on the OAA link above and at the ATO website as well for further details. What’s happening is the following from the FDA. The FDA wants to make the one who edges in house the “manufacturer.

November 1, 2007

The Opticians Association of America has recently launched a legislative action page. If you sign up for it, one can receive updates and alerts to laws that are being proposed and possibly passed. There is also a little script that helps you find your House representative. I feel this is a long time coming. I’m very happy that they did this. It should make mobilization a whole lot easier

July 12, 2006

I figured I’d write a little something to help patients understand what is expected of them when they walk into an optical or eye-doctor. This may come as a surprise to some patients because they are after all paying for our services. I only bring this up because I have noticed a clear disconnect between many healthcare professionals and their patients. This is especially true in the eye-care related industries which have chains of stores that put forth a more retail setting. So, what do you as a patient need to do and more importantly why do you need to do it.

April 28, 2006

I find the use of technology in this industry to be very spotty at best. For one thing, computer skills seem to be more and more necessary yet many of us resist using the computer. Many of us use some type of complicated equipment (more…)

Opticiann. One who is extensively trained in the interpreting of ophthalmic prescriptions and applies that knowledge to obtain the optimum visual and safety performance for the patient in a pair of spectacles or contact lenses.

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Friendn. 1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. 2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance. 3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade. 4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement.

Electromagnetic Wave Propagation
Shows both the electric and magnetic propagation of a wave through space. What’s great about this tutorial is that one can change the angle to see it from different angles.

Wavefront Demonstration
This is a demonstration of what wavelets look like and form by either refracting or reflecting off of a medium

Prisms
Shows a basic prism. If you explore the site more you will find many different types of prisms that do a variety of things.